I contacted them, got back: "Our engineering staff is aware of the issue and is working on an update to be released as soon as possible. This issue is currently affecting all browsers when viewing films from the FilmStruck watch page. The issue is not affecting the app version of FilmStruck and you may view our service from any compatible device that is readily available to you."

Once I started using the app (chromecast from phone or iPad, or Apple TV direct) I haven't used the web portal at all.

That's because chromecast fixes the iPad problem of windowboxing all early upload 4x3 films in a teeny tiny postage stamp in he center of your iPad screen--note that recent 4x3 uploads play properly in full screen on iPads. iPhone never had an aspect ratio problem. But any problematic 4x3 film gets fixed when chrome casting it.

Additionally, the app manages the library a million times better than the awful web browser interface. Watchlist is way better with features like recently watched and "in progress" they still don't have seamless device handoff--meaning it struggles to resume the same place across different devices, but all the devices now know what you most recently watched on some other device.

I just use web to add titles to my watchlist (way faster to search/scroll through them than doing it on Roku), plus that "We're Refreshing Our Library" page (previously known as "Movies Leaving Filmstruck") has some quick links there which are also real time savers. When it's not dorked up like it is now.

Can't deal with anything (video-wise) longer than a few minutes on my computer or iPad, so big screen tv is pretty much it for me in terms of watching.

(Edit: A day or two back I checked, and it's been fixed.)

Last edited by fdm on Fri Oct 06, 2017 2:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[T]his is my own fault for watching on a laptop. ... I don’t have a TV, and I’ve gotten used to being able to carry my screens from room to room.

Anyone watching movies like this is a philistine whose opinions are not worth listening to. (That said, I don't subscribe to Filmstruck either.)

I'm sorry, but saying someone's a philistine for watching a film on a laptop I think is a bit extreme. Some of us don't have a choice. Honestly, if I shut the lights off in my small studio apartment, switch on the loud speakers and let the film play uninterrupted on my 15-inch HD-capable laptop screen it's a lot better than nothing.

[T]his is my own fault for watching on a laptop. ... I don’t have a TV, and I’ve gotten used to being able to carry my screens from room to room.

Anyone watching movies like this is a philistine whose opinions are not worth listening to. (That said, I don't subscribe to Filmstruck either.)

I'm sorry, but saying someone's a philistine for watching a film on a laptop I think is a bit extreme. Some of us don't have a choice. Honestly, if I shut the lights off in my small studio apartment, switch on the loud speakers and let the film play uninterrupted on my 15-inch HD-capable laptop screen it's a lot better than nothing.

I come from the era of watching edited for Network TV, Pan & Scan, <30" films was standard. I think if you like movies you owe it to yourself to move beyond the laptop. Its just a different experience.

I come from an era where telling other people how to enjoy their own life is judged as patronizing and insulting. You owe it to yourself to not tell people you don't know what to do, as if your opinion should have any relevance whatsoever as to what's best for them.

It’s a bit difficult to assess the current state of the Val Lewton titles as far as HD remasters go. Of course, Cat People (BluRay), and I’ve seen Curse of the Cat People on Warner Archive streaming in HD. Warner Archive currently offers Isle of the Dead and The Leopard Man, but as a non-subscriber I can’t figure out whether these are HD or not. Last night TCM ran almost the whole run of Lewton. The Leopard Man looks identical to the Filmstruck version, but The Body Snatcher seemed to be an upgrade (on TCM) compared to the overly murky Filmstruck version (the DVD was also this dark version). Perhaps it’s overly brightened but it’s certainly much more detailed. Would love to see these all in HD!

Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:04 pmLocation: A Midland town spread and darkened into a city

unclehulot wrote:

...but The Body Snatcher seemed to be an upgrade (on TCM) compared to the overly murky Filmstruck version (the DVD was also this dark version). Perhaps it’s overly brightened but it’s certainly much more detailed...

Just to clarify, while The Body Snatcher may have looked better on TCM Tuesday night, it was still an older standard definition transfer.

...but The Body Snatcher seemed to be an upgrade (on TCM) compared to the overly murky Filmstruck version (the DVD was also this dark version). Perhaps it’s overly brightened but it’s certainly much more detailed...

Just to clarify, while The Body Snatcher may have looked better on TCM Tuesday night, it was still an older standard definition transfer.

I would agree with that. It’s just odd that others shown on TCM resembled the old DVD set but not this one. What I find especially disappointing (in general) is that Warner Archive Streaming seems the only way to see many upgraded HD masters (Curse of the Cat People is the same SD looking older transfer on Filmstruck, but looked very good on Warner Archive Streaming). TCM continues to show older masters (in general) and despite Filmstruck’s claiming to show HD when available in their FAQ’s they don’t exactly seem to be living up to that promise. I really with Filmstruck would be upfront about which titles they offer in HD....why is this information so hard to come by?

Cinematic Overtures: How to Read Opening ScenesKnife in the Water (Polanski)The Hill (Lumet)The Conformist (Bertolucci)Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog)Badlands (Malick)Come and See (Klimov)Three Colors: Red (Kieslowski)Before the Rain (Manchevski

Where's the Xbox/PS4 compatibility that they're over a year late on delivering?

It may actually be Sony or Microsoft at fault here. Both are fairly notorious for what they allow on their system. You also have to pay them to update apps and games. But my gut says Filmstruck might be more responsible.

Thanks for pointing out the departure date info thing. I would have missed it completely since it’s not on the info pages on the various apps. Also, even when I went to the web pages on my iPad I didn’t see this until I “requested desktop site”. Now, if they just could give us HD or SD somewhere, or at least HD when it is so.